Bottle closure



J. STALLER Nov. 25, 1952 BOTTLE CLOSURE Filed June 21, 1947 II, I

Gl F M Patented Nova 25, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application June 21, 1947, Serial No. 756,122 In Czechoslovakia January 27, 1947 3 Claims.

Thi invention relates to a bottle closure, more particularly for beer bottles, in which a material part of the closure is permanently connected with the bottle neck and keeps in position a loose closure member which, on the bottle being opened, is removed and, on the bottle being closed, is replaced by a new one. The object of the invention is to provide an improvement of closures of this kind as regards greater cheapness, reliability and cleanliness.

The invention consists more particularly in this, that the closure comprises an elastically yielding sealing ring which is permanently fixed by a stifl cap to the top of the bottle neck and a loose, stiff closure member which bears against the said sealing ring and is secured in the closed position by bearing with its supporting part, which is deformed after the introduction of the closure member, against the inwardly extending rim of the cap, so that it can only be removed out of this position by being again deformed or destroyed.

The invention shall now be more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 illustrates a constructional example of the invention in section, Figure 2 a second constructional example, Figure 3 a detail of Figure 4 and Figure 4 a section through a third constructional form.

In Figure 1 of the drawing I is the bottle neck, on the top surface of which the rubber sealing ring 2 rests. The latter is pressed against the bottle neck by a stiff sheet metal cap 3, the lower rim 4 of which has been beaded over after the cap has been slipped on to the bottle, so that the cap 3 and the sealing ring 2 are permanently fixed to the bottle. When the bottle is to be closed, a disc-shaped closing member 6 is inserted from above through the opening in the cap 3 and placed on the sealing ring 2, the member 6 being provided at its edges with several, for instance three, extensions or lugs 1. By pressing the closure member 6 against the rubber ring 2, an operation usually carried out by the filling machine, the requisite tight closure is effected. With the parts pressed together as described, groove-like depressions 8 are pressed from the inside into the lugs 1 by means of a suitable tool in such a manner that the forced-out part of the metal bears with its outside against the inside of the rim 5 of the cap 3, thereby preventing the closing member 6 from falling out. For opening the bottle, one of the lugs 1 is bent over inwards .by applying pressure in the direction of the arrow, causing the bulge 8 to become disengaged from the rim 5, so that the closing member 6 Will be ejected by the internal pressure of the bottle or, if there should be no internal pressure, be easily removable by pulling at the lug I.

In the construction shown in Figure 2 the rubber sealing ring I2 is, similarly as in Figure 1, pressed by means of a cap II], the lower rim ll of which has been bent inwards, against the bottle neck 9 and permanently held on it. In this case, however, the closing member l4 does not rest on the upper side of the sealing ring I2, but is pushed into its opening. The internal diameter of the sealing ring I2 is, when the closure is in its open state, slightly smaller than the corresponding external diameter of the closing member I4, so that the latter, after being forced in, bears under pressure closely against the inside of the ring l2, the material of which pushes itself elastically into the spaces between the individual lugs I5 and so assists in firmly holding the inserted closing member 14 in position.

For securing the inserted closing member M in a perfectly reliable manner, depressions l! are impressed into its lugs [5 from the inside in such a manner that with their outside they engage under the rigid rim 13 of the cap [0 and in this way, independently of the friction of the sealing ring l2 against the closing member 14, render the undesired ejection of the latter by the internal pressure of the bottle impossible.

One of the lugs I5 is provided with a tongue [8 which is so shaped that it can be readily taken hold of and used for deforming or ripping the closing member l4, whereby the closing member is loosened and is either ejected by the internal pressure of the bottle or can easily be pulled out.

In the constructional example according to Figures 3 and 4 the sealing ring 2| is in the manner already described permanently fixed to the bottle neck [9 by means of the flanged-in cap 20. The closing member 22 has the form of a cup having a side wall 26 Without extensions and a bottom which is convex towards the interior of the bottle. After the closing member has been pushed into the opening in the cap 20 and the sealing ring 2i, a groove-like depression 24 extending around its entire periphery is impressed from the inside in its side wall 26, which depression secures the closing part 22 from being ejected.

Through the bottom 23 being made convex, it is more capable even when consisting of thin material, of withstanding any internal pressure in the bottle, than if made fiat. Even a relatively soft material, such as aluminum, will satis fy the requirements. When such a material is used, the opening operation may be conveniently effected by piercing the bottom 23 with any pointed implement 25, the closing member being then deformed and levered out by moving the implement in the direction of the arrow. The absence of any projecting parts at the edge of the closing member provides the advantage, that the danger of the full bottle being unintentionally opened by a knock against such parts during transport is eliminated.

As only the very cheap closing member has to be replaced, when the bottles are being refilled, whilst the cap and the sealing ring remain permanently on the bottle neck, considerable economies become possible as compared with the known closures consisting of stoppers or caps with sealing insertions. As there are no inaccessible places, where dirt might accumulate, the empty bottles can be conveniently and thoroughly cleansed, so that the closure is entirely satisfactory from the hygenic point of view. Through the cap being permanently in position, the glass bottle mouth is effectively protected against injury. As there are no rotatable or other moving parts, great durability is ensured. The closure does not require the bottle mouth to have any special form and can therefore be subsequently attached to any normal bottles previously used for stopper or cap closures. The closure-applying machine is very simple, as it does not have to perform any complicated motions.

Iclaim:

1. In combination with a bottle neck, having an outer peripheral lip and an annular surface surrounding the mouth of said bottle neck, a resiliently yielding, annular sealing ring located on said annular surface of said bottle neck about said mouth thereof and having an annular upper face and an inner, circular sealing face located above and in the region of said annular surface of said bottle neck; an external, annular cap secured upon said lip of said bottle neck and having an annular top portion covering said annular upper face of said sealing ring and forming an aperture of substantially the same diameter as said inner, circular sealing face of said sealing ring so that said cap is out of contact with and exposes said inner, circular sealing face of said sealing ring; and a dished closure member having a circular bottom wall and a cylindrical side wall extending upwardly from said circular bottom wall, said dished closure member being inserted in said aperture of said annular cap with its cylindrical side wall located against said inner, circular sealing face of said sealing ring, I

said cylindrical side wall of said dished closure member being located in its entirety out of contact with said bottle neck and being formed with an annular, outwardly projecting portion extending into said inner, circular sea-ling face of said sealing ring and abutting against said annular top portion of said cap to retain said closure member on said bottle neck against the action of pressure within the bottle, said annular projecting portion of said cylindrical side wall of said closure member simultaneously also forcing said resiliently yielding, annular sealing ring against said annular surface of said bottle neck, said annular top portion of said cap, and said cylindrical side wall of said closure member to efiectively seal the bottle.

2. In combination with a bottle neck, having an outer peripheral lip and an annular surface surrounding the mouth of said bottle neck, a resiliently yielding, annular sealing ring located 4 on said annular surface of said bottle neck about said mouth thereof and having an annular upper face and an inner, circular sealing face located above and in the region of said annular surface of said bottle neck; an external, annular cap secured upon said lip of said bottle neck and having an annular top portion covering said annular upper face of said sealing ring and forming an aperture of substantially the same diameter as said inner, circular sealing face of said sealing ring so that said cap is out of contact with and exposes said inner, circular sealing face of said sealing ring; and a dished closure member having a circular bottom wall, a cylindrical side wall extending upwardly from said circular bottom wall, and an annular top flange extending outwardly from said annular side wall, said dished closure member being inserted in said aperture of said annular cap with its cylindrical wall located against said inner, circular sealing face of said sealing ring, said top flange of said closure member being located over and against said annular top portion of said cap, said cylindrical side Wall of said dished closure member being located in its entirety out of contact with said bottle neck and being formed with an annular, outwardly projecting portion extending into said inner, circular sealing face of said sealing ring and abutting against said annular top portion of said cap to retain said closure member on said bottle neck against the action of pressure within the bottle, said annular projecting portion of said cylindrical side wall of said closure member simultaneously also forcing said resiliently yielding, annular sealing ring against said annular surface of said bottle neck, said annular top portion of said cap, and said cylindrical side wall of said closure member to effectively seal the bottle.

3. In combination with a bottle neck, having an outer peripheral lip and an annular surface surrounding the mouth of said bottle neck, a resiliently yielding, annular sealing ring located on said annular surface of said bottle neck about said mouth thereof and having an annular upper face and an inner, circular sealing face located above and in the region of said annular surface of said bottle neck; an external, annular cap secured upon said lip of said bottle neck and having an annular top portion covering said annular upper face of said sealing ring and forming an aperture of substantially the same diameter as said inner, circular sealing face of said sealing ring so that said cap is out of contact with and exposes said inner, circular sealing face of said sealing ring; and a dished closure member having a circular bottom wall provided with a concave upper surface and a convex lower surface and a cylindrical side wall extending upwardly from said circular bottom wall, said dished closure member being inserted in said aperture of said annular cap with its cylindrical side wall located against said inner, circular sealing face of said sealing ring, said cylindrical side wall of said dished closure member being located in its entirety out of contact with said bottle neck and being formed with an annular, outwardly projecting portion extending into said inner, circular sealing face of said sealing ring and abutting against said annular top portion of said cap to retain said closure member on said bottle neck against the action of pressure within the bottle, said annular projecting portion of said cylindrical wall of said closure member simultaneously also forcing said resiliently yielding, annular sealing ring against said annular surface of said bottle neck, said annular top portion of said cap, and said cylindrical side wall of said closure member to efiectively seal the bottle and said bottom Wall of said closure member being acted on by pressure within the bottle to force said annular side wall of said closure member further against said sealing face of said sealing ring so that the sealing force increases With an increase in pressure within the bottle.

JAN STALLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

Number 6 UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Gay Mar. 5, 1901 Sherman Dec. 15, 1903 Gillette June 27, 1905 Anderson Apr. 3, 1906 Anderson June 2, 1908 Winter Nov. 24, 1908 Potter Jan. 11, 1916 Clausen May 16, 1916 Potter Sept. 26, 1916 Merolle et a1 June 10, 1930 Merolle July 14, 1936 

